The unprecedented growth of the chemical industry since World War II has led to somewhat over 35 million metric tons of mostly toxic waste being generated. Large quantities of synthetic halogenated materials such as dielictric fluids, flame retardants, refrigerants, heat transfer fluids, lubricants, protective coatings, pesticides, including herbicides and insecticides, and many other chemicals and petroleum products useful in agriculture, industry and health care have been manufactured and used to the benefit of mankind. In many cases, these materials and their by-products or residues from their manufacture have been released into the ecosphere and have been accumulated in landfills, the atmosphere, lakes, rivers and streams, as runoff or direct discharge.
Many of the halogenated chemicals employed in these applications in agriculture and industry are toxic and accumulate in animal and plant tissues causing serious discomfort or health problems. Many also persist in the environment because they are not biodegradable because of the inability of natural microflora generally available in the environment to degrade them.
Many methods and techniques have been proposed and used for disposing of and/or treating these chemicals, their by-products, and their wastes in a way which makes them compatible with the environment. In spite of all the effort and money being spent to clean up the ecosphere, the problem persists. Disposing of waste chemicals accumulated from past practices and preventing future accumulation of such noxious materials is of worldwide concern. The continuing manufacture of such chemicals, which have proven to be essential and so important and necessary to agriculture, industry, and health care in the betterment of mankind continues, and so does the piling up of the obnoxious wastes which are non-biodegradable or not disposable into the natural carbon cycle.